- As part of her privacy case against Associated Newspapers and the Mail on Sunday, Meghan Markle's legal team has revealed that the Duchess of Sussex felt "unprotected" during much of her time as a senior working royal, including during her pregnancy.
- The details of Meghan's emotional state during her time as a working royal were made public after they were included in court documents filed by her lawyers.
- According to the Telegraph's royals editor, Camilla Tominey, the statements could damage Meghan and Prince Harry's relationships with the Queen, who broke royal protocol in her early efforts to welcome Meghan to the family.
Meghan Markle's royal drama is continuing to rage on and, in a somewhat ironic twist of fate, new details about Meghan's private life are becoming public knowledge in the course of her her privacy case against Associated Newspapers and the Mail on Sunday.
According to documents filed by Meghan's legal team, she was "prohibited from defending herself" from vicious attacks in the press during her time as a senior working royal.
"The Claimant had become the subject of a large number of false and damaging articles by the UK tabloid media, specifically by the Defendant, which caused tremendous emotional distress and damage to her mental health," the court documents filed by Meghan's lawyers go on to say.
While it's still unclear how Meghan's case will be resolved in the courts, royal experts suggest there may be more immediate—and far more personal—implications for both Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry. According to the Telegraph's royals editor, Camilla Tominey, the ordeal—which is playing out pretty dramatically in the press—could damage their relationships with the Queen.
"What impact is it going to have on Prince Harry's relationship with the Queen?" Tominey said, per The Mirror. "I think the Queen is going to be seeing those headlines this morning and frankly feel devastated at this idea that they weren't supportive."
Tominey suggests that the royal family might take issue with Meghan's claims, considering they broke protocol in their efforts to make her feel welcomed to the family early on.
"When Meghan was first on the scene she wasn't even married and the Queen broke with tradition and invited her to Sandringham at Christmas," Tominey explains. "Obviously they were given Frogmore Cottage and £2.4million was spent on it. So I think the royals might be thinking, 'Well, we did try and make you feel welcome but perhaps you always wanted to break away and you wanted to do things differently.'"
As for the outcome of the actual court case, Tominey predicts it will hinge on whether or not Meghan decides to formally make public a private letter she wrote to her father, Thomas Markle, around the time of her royal wedding in May 2018.
"Interestingly, you guys will be familiar that there is a book coming out called Finding Freedom that's been written by two authors who are close to Meghan," Tominey explained. "One of them, Omid Scobie, went on television last year and effectively said that he thought that the letter was written in order for the contents to be public so that the public can understand how much she had tried to reconnect with her father."
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